Musical Bumps run music classes for babies, toddlers and beyond around the country. Based on the Hungarian Kodaly method of music teaching, they use a mixture of traditional favourite music, as well as less well known music from around the world. Through play, children can grasp musical skills and basic musical concepts, such as rhythm. We recently visited our local class at Dance Junction in Rochester, Kent.
toddlers
Review: Childs Farm Skin and Bath Products
If you have a baby, chances are you may have heard of Childs Farm. Whilst I’ve tried out other great bathtime products, I’ve been itching to try out these products since Autumn was a newborn. I was delighted when I was approached with a lovely gift hamper to test out.
Autumn loves her bath time, so she’s always more than happy to be my little guinea pig when it comes to trying out bath products!
A family day out at Sheffield Park
Sheffield Park in East Sussex is renowned for its beautiful autumn colours. I’d say it’s definitely one of the best places to see the autumn colours in the South East. A National Trust property, it boasts acres of landscaped gardens with park and woodland. October was a very busy month for us. I went back to work, I was under the weather for most of the month and it just generally seemed to whizz by. When we got to the beginning of this week, I realised that we hadn’t visited Sheffield Park.
Fortunately, I must have expressed this to my husband. On Thursday morning we went to drop off my car to the garage first thing. As he drove me back home through the country lanes, I gazed across the fog on the marshes and the gentle sunlight dancing on the frost in the fields. It was a beautiful morning made better by the fact that he then announced he’d taken the day off and was taking us to Sheffield Park!
Autumn’s first 8 words
By the time they reach 13 months old, children usually have a vocabulary of around 3 or 4 words. Of course, this does vary as babies and toddlers develop at different rates. It’s so fun seeing what word they’ll learn to say next, though. I remember when Autumn said her first word it was kind of a “Did that really just happen? Did she say that?” moment and I’m still finding it like that.
Autumn was a little ahead of the curve when it comes to speech development, as she could say 8 words when she reached 13 months. Here they are!
PYO Pumpkins at Beluncle Farm
In recent years, it has become very popular to go pumpkin picking in the weeks leading up to Halloween. There are several in Kent, but the most local to us is PYO Pumpkins at Beluncle Farm in Hoo, Rochester. Entry is free, there’s ample parking, there are toilets and refreshments and they even accept card payments! They also support Crohn’s & Colitis UK and CICRA, causes close to the organiser’s hearts as their son suffers from Crohn’s disease.
I visited them for the first time in 2015 with two of my best friends. However, after the birth of Autumn last year, I decided to start a family tradition!